Kader, executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) in Washington, is on a nationwide tour as part of a committee campaign. He focused on defamation, political organization and legislation and cultural awareness.

While saying defamation has nothing to do with the Arab-Israeli war, the 41-year-old Kader said, "It's a concentrated effort to make sure you are not proud of your Arab heritage."

Kader, formerly a political science professor at Brigham Young University, relinquished his 10-year academic career to work with the ADC, which is 5 years old and has 15,000 members.

During his 30-minute talk, he held up several booklets, including two he cited as being blacklists similar to those used in the McCarthy era. The booklets were titled "Pro-Arab Propaganda in America: Vehicles and Voices," and "The Campaign to Discredit Israel." He said he has shown these publications to his Jewish friends and they are ashamed of them.

Kader, who was on his first visit to Allentown, said, "We're working hard to stop this kind of thing. We're not going to quit until we get it stopped. Any country can be criticized, but there's no reason to blacklist."

As an example of the kind of defamation he was referring to, Kader held up an advertisement that he said depicted an Arab in a negative image and said that as a result of the ADC's efforts an apology was printed. He produced a printed apology and drew enthusiastic response from the audience.

He said Allentown has an estimated Arab population of between 7,500 and 8,000, compared to between 3-5 million Arabs nationwide. Allentown is one of the oldest Arab-American communities in the nation, he said.

Saying "it's a game of organizing," Kader said, "you have to get involved . . . We've got to stop thinking of ourselves as losers.

"When you help us with the ADC, that help makes a difference. It's not an anti-Israel campaign. It's not an anti-Jewish campaign. It's a pro American- Arab campaign."

He also spoke of the role American aid is playing in international situations. Looking at the invasion of south Lebanon, Kader said, "Israel is becoming a militaristic state."

"We want you to join ADC. Join us and get Allentown on the map," he said.

He outlined a plan to get together the history of the Arab-Americans. He said a handbook would be coming out in a few weeks with questions to help put family histories together. He said he wants 5,000 personal histories.

"You're part of the American dream . . .. Every one of you has an interesting story to tell.

"We need each of you to give your little part," he said.

An example of some of the help was the monitoring of the media for discriminatory or defamatory material. He said failure to organize, develop political power and take positive steps would result in adverse effects.

According to the committee, campaign objectives include sensitizing teachers to anti-Arab stereotyping and textbook errors; campaigning against blacklisting of prominent and active Arab-Americans by Jewish organizations, and monitoring legislation on aid to Israel and a proposal to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and immigration legislation.

He was introduced by Kamal Abboud, coordinator of the local ADC chapter.

Abboud spoke about negative Arab images appearing in the media, including The Morning Call. He reviewed the Arabic cultural contributions to the world and said, "We must undo the negative, stereotyped images the media created." He suggested that joining the ADC could help reverse negative trends.